Pretty in the City

Attractive women are generally more popular and content than those whose looks don't measure up to cultural standards, according to years of research. A new study confirms this beauty advantage—but only among city dwellers. Victoria C. Plaut, a psychologist at the University of Georgia in Athens, and other researchers surveyed 257 urban and 330 rural women, ages 26 to 75, and calculated their waist-to-hip ratio
(waist size divided by hip size), which has been shown to be a measure of physical attractiveness in previous research. The urban women who reported more social connections and more satisfaction with their lives were indeed more attractive, but that correlation didn't hold true for people in rural areas. Because choice of partners is limited in less-populated places, a good–looking physique isn't as influential as it is in competitive urban environments with abundant possibilities, the study authors believe. Beauty's significance may reflect social culture rather than simply human nature, they conclude.